Although the team has had an extremely encouraging start to the season, as they face Ferrari at the head of the chasing pack behind Red Bull, their form has not been consistent.
Most confusing is the fact that on circuits where McLaren hoped to do well, such as at Suzuka, it struggled, while on circuits like Shanghai, where it had planned to be behind, it actually fell behind. revealed to be quite solid.
Piastri believes the confusing nature of how it compares to Ferrari is something McLaren should focus on understanding, as it could help it unlock better performance in the future.
“We need to understand why we are fast on some days and not fast on other days,” the Australian said. “I think we have some good ideas, but we just have to make sure the reasons we think we’re good are actually why.
“We thought we would have a lot of trouble here [in China]. So it’s very encouraging that Lando is able to finish second on a track that we thought we would struggle on. It’s exciting for what’s to come in the future, and with some new parts coming to the car, it’s an encouraging sign.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, with his engineers in the garage
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Besides the fact that McLaren’s form is influenced by the speed range of corners on each individual track, corner duration has also been a limiting factor in the past.
This is why its performance in China was more disconcerting than usual, as the length of some of its corners should have punished this car.
When asked why McLaren performed so well in Shanghai, Piastri replied: “This is what we need to understand!
“Clearly we’re doing well on some days and struggling on others, and it doesn’t really seem to be related to the track layout at the moment.
“Somewhere like Japan, where we thought we would be pretty strong, honestly, was probably our weakest race this year with Bahrain – and here, where we thought we were our weakest, was probably our strongest. So we need to understand a little more why.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
“I think it’s obviously a little frustrating to be so up and down. I think being up when we expect to be down is very encouraging, so we just need to understand why. And if we can do that, then we’ll make some progress in the areas we need to focus on.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella suspects his team did so well in China because the track wasn’t as restricted at the front as in the past – and the weather conditions weren’t as harm to the rear during the race as at other sites.
“I think it’s a circuit where there wasn’t a lot of limitation at the front,” he said, wondering why he thought McLaren did so well there.
“Since we switched to the wide tires, China doesn’t seem to be as difficult on the front tires as in the past. And at the same time, I think the conditions helped to maintain grip at the rear because the rear axle in particular wasn’t overheating.
“So it was a combination of factors that contributed to the performance of our car. I also think some adjustments we made to the set-up after the sprint improved race pace, as it changed the car with the aim of improving race pace rather than qualifying.
“In fact, we were surprised to see that we were decent even in qualifying. But it seems to have helped the race. So several factors. Not a single miracle solution, let’s say.
Additional reporting by Oleg Karpov
Watch: Who are the key players in F1 Driver Market 2025
Although the team has had an extremely encouraging start to the season, as they face Ferrari at the head of the chasing pack behind Red Bull, their form has not been consistent.
Most confusing is the fact that on circuits where McLaren hoped to do well, such as at Suzuka, it struggled, while on circuits like Shanghai, where it had planned to be behind, it actually fell behind. revealed to be quite solid.
Piastri believes the confusing nature of how it compares to Ferrari is something McLaren should focus on understanding, as it could help it unlock better performance in the future.
“We need to understand why we are fast on some days and not fast on other days,” the Australian said. “I think we have some good ideas, but we just have to make sure the reasons we think we’re good are actually why.
“We thought we would have a lot of trouble here [in China]. So it’s very encouraging that Lando is able to finish second on a track that we thought we would struggle on. It’s exciting for what’s to come in the future, and with some new parts coming to the car, it’s an encouraging sign.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, with his engineers in the garage
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Besides the fact that McLaren’s form is influenced by the speed range of corners on each individual track, corner duration has also been a limiting factor in the past.
This is why its performance in China was more disconcerting than usual, as the length of some of its corners should have punished this car.
When asked why McLaren performed so well in Shanghai, Piastri replied: “This is what we need to understand!
“Clearly we’re doing well on some days and struggling on others, and it doesn’t really seem to be related to the track layout at the moment.
“Somewhere like Japan, where we thought we would be pretty strong, honestly, was probably our weakest race this year with Bahrain – and here, where we thought we were our weakest, was probably our strongest. So we need to understand a little more why.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
“I think it’s obviously a little frustrating to be so up and down. I think being up when we expect to be down is very encouraging, so we just need to understand why. And if we can do that, then we’ll make some progress in the areas we need to focus on.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella suspects his team did so well in China because the track wasn’t as restricted at the front as in the past – and the weather conditions weren’t as harm to the rear during the race as at other sites.
“I think it’s a circuit where there wasn’t a lot of limitation at the front,” he said, wondering why he thought McLaren did so well there.
“Since we switched to the wide tires, China doesn’t seem to be as difficult on the front tires as in the past. And at the same time, I think the conditions helped to maintain grip at the rear because the rear axle in particular wasn’t overheating.
“So it was a combination of factors that contributed to the performance of our car. I also think some adjustments we made to the set-up after the sprint improved race pace, as it changed the car with the aim of improving race pace rather than qualifying.
“In fact, we were surprised to see that we were decent even in qualifying. But it seems to have helped the race. So several factors. Not a single miracle solution, let’s say.
Additional reporting by Oleg Karpov
Watch: Who are the key players in F1 Driver Market 2025